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(Quarter Mile Section - L 13) |
BRIEF HISTORY DURING THE SNOW ERA (1813-58)
Sackville Street was home to Dr. John Snow during his historic investigations of the Broad Street Pump Outbreak (1854) and Grand Experiment (1854), and when serving as anesthesiologist to Queen Victoria (1853 and 1857). The street was originally laid out in 1670s but was cleared in 1731, making way for a major reconstruction with fine houses on deep and wide plots on the west side and smaller plots for standard houses on the east side (where Dr. Snow lived). Building was completed in 1733. The edifices remained similar in style until the 1960s when some of the buildings were demolished and others were altered. Many of the homes were also heightened over the years with addition of an attic.
[Snow] stayed at this address [54 Frifth Street] until late in 1852 when he moved about half a mile away to a house in the more affluent Sackville Street, off Piccadilly, and there remained for the rest of his life.
- Ellis RH, 1994.
Snow's home at 18 Sackville is similar in style to 16 Sackville for which there is descriptive information. An earlier photo (see 1958 below) shows both 18 and 16 Sackville, the location of which is shown in Sackville's layout plan (see 1742 below). Number 16 was leased in 1789 by a carpenter, Joseph Buckoke, who left a detailed description. Much of the house remained unchanged from 1789 to 1961 (when demolished). The ground floor had a front room with two wide windows and an entrance passage to a staircase rising from basement to attic. The dining room and dressing rooms were on the second floor, while the bedrooms were on the third floor. The top floor was an attic.
Sackville Street is located in cell L13 in Reynold's 1859 map, appearing in the lower right of the cell.
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(Quarter Mile Section - L 13) |
Sources:
Ellis RH. The Case Books of Dr. John Snow, Medical History, Suppl. 14, 1994
Sheppard FHW (ed).Survey of London, Vol. 32, 1963.
Weinreb B, Hibbert C (eds). The London Encyclopaedia, 1993.
